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NEWARK, Ohio — An East Side man had five years in prison to figure out where he went wrong in
his attempt to burglarize a Licking County gun store.

In the end, though, some habits are hard to break.

Charles H. Morrison III, 25, pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court in Columbus to four
counts stemming from a March break-in at Buckeye Outdoors in Hebron in which 18 guns were stolen.
An accomplice, James Allen Banks, 23, of Marion, pleaded guilty to the same four counts on
Monday.

Federal agents had an easy time tracking Morrison. An employee interrupted him as he tried to
climb into the store’s drop ceiling about an hour before closing on the night of the burglary. With
his legs and feet dangling from a men’s room ceiling, Morrison told the employee he was doing duct
work. When told the business had not requested duct work, Morrison left.

About three hours later, Morrison broke into Buckeye Outdoors by smashing the glass in a back
door.

Morrison had been convicted of breaking into Buckeye Outdoors five years earlier — by breaking
the glass in the back door. He was released from prison in January after serving nearly five years
for that crime.

Six days after the March break-in, agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives questioned Morrison, telling him that a recent break-in at Buckeye Outdoors was very
similar to the burglary he’d committed in 2008.

Morrison denied the latest break-in. But, he told an investigator: “I’ll tell you this: When I
was sitting in prison for five years, I was thinking about how I should’ve done it different.

“I would have went in the bathroom up in the ceiling, waited until they closed. Way better
idea."

Morrison, the agent noted, was wearing the same clothes during his interview that surveillance
tapes had shown him wearing on the night of the break-in.

Federal agents and Hebron police later searched Morrison’s home at 1378 E. Broad St. and Banks’
residence at 496 Polk St. in Marion. Three of the stolen guns, as well as ammunition and tools that
could be used to alter serial numbers, were recovered from Banks’ home.

Both men have been in custody since their April 30 arrest and could face up to 30 years in
prison.

Both Morrison and Banks admitted to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession
of stolen firearms. Both are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

They also pleaded guilty to possessing three firearms with obliterated serial numbers and
unlawful burglary of a licensed firearm dealer, crimes punishable by up to five years in
prison.